Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a person and a person in which the couple does not want or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.
Fuad I was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sultan in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hussein Kamel. He replaced the title of Sultan with King when the United Kingdom unilaterally declared Egyptian independence in 1922.
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, comprising what is nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 and the resulting treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay. Historian Joseph M. Upton says that he "is famous among Iranians for three things: his exceptionally long beard, his wasp-like waist, and his progeny."
Sultana or sultanah is a female royal title, and the feminine form of the word sultan. This term has been officially used for female monarchs in some Islamic states, and historically it was also used for sultan's consorts.
Baháʼu'lláh was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born in 1817 to Khadíjih Khánum and Mírzá Buzurg of Nur, a Persian nobleman, and went on to be a leader in the Bábí movement, and then established the Baháʼí Faith in 1863. Baháʼu'lláh's family consists of his three wives and the children of those wives.
Harem refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic servants, and other unmarried female relatives. In harems of the past, slave concubines were also housed in the harem. In former times some harems were guarded by eunuchs who were allowed inside. The structure of the harem and the extent of monogamy or polygamy has varied depending on the family's personalities, socio-economic status, and local customs. Similar institutions have been common in other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations, especially among royal and upper-class families, and the term is sometimes used in other contexts. In traditional Persian residential architecture the women's quarters were known as andaruni, and in the Indian subcontinent as zenana.
Great Royal Wife, or alternatively, Chief King's Wife, is the title that was used to refer to the principal wife of the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who served many official functions.
The Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the wives, servants, female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (seraglio) of the Ottoman imperial household. This institution played an important social function within the Ottoman court, and wielded considerable political authority in Ottoman affairs, especially during the long period known as the Sultanate of Women.
Saray Mulk Khanum was the empress consort of the Timurid Empire as the chief consort of Timur, also known as Tamerlane the Great, the founder of the Timurid Empire as well as the Timurid dynasty.
Amina Hanim was the first princess consort of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, the first monarch of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.
Concubinage in the Muslim world was the practice of Muslim men entering into intimate relationships without marriage, with enslaved women, though in rare, exceptional cases, sometimes with free women. If the concubine gave birth to a child, she attained a higher status known as umm al-walad.
Golbadan Baji or Gulbadan Khanum, also known by her title Khazen ol-Dowleh was a concubine and later wife of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar of Persia. Of Georgian origin, she was originally a slave girl of Fath-Ali Shah's mother after whose death she rose to prominence.
Concubinage in China traditionally resembled marriage in that concubines were recognized sexual partners of a man and were expected to bear children for him. Unofficial concubines were of lower status, and their children were considered illegitimate. The English term concubine is also used for what the Chinese refer to as pínfēi, or "consorts of emperors", an official position often carrying a very high rank. The practice of concubinage in China was outlawed when the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949.
The harem of the caliphs of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) in Baghdad was composed of his mother, wives, slave concubines, female relatives and slave servants, occupying a secluded portion of the Abbasid household. This institution played an important social function within the Abbasid court and was that part were the women were confined and secluded. The senior woman in rank in the harem was the mother of the Caliph. The Abbasid harem acted as a role model for the harems of other Islamic dynasties, as it was during the Abbasid Caliphate that the harem system was fully enforced in the Muslim world.
The harem of the monarchs of the Qajar dynasty (1785-1925) consisted of several thousand people. The harem had a precise internal administration, based on the women's rank.
Mirmon Ayesha, was an Afghan royal consort. She was married to Sher Ali Khan. She hailed from Lal Pur Afghanistan of the Momand tribe.
Ulya Janab, was an Afghan royal consort. She was married to Habibullah Khan.
Slavery in Egypt existed up until the early 20th century. It differed from the previous slavery in ancient Egypt, being managed in accordance with Islamic law from the conquest of the Caliphate in the 7th century until the practice stopped in the early 20th-century, having been gradually abolished in the late 19th century. Slave trade was abolished successively between 1877 and 1884. Slavery itself was not abolished, but it gradually died out after the abolition of the slave trade, since no new slaves could be legally aquired. Excisting slaves were noted as late as the 1930s.
Polygamy in Africa has existed throughout the history of Africa. Polygamy, particularly polygyny, is a highly valued social institution in Africa. Polygamy is a marriage between a man or woman and their multiple spouses. Polygyny is a marriage between a man and multiple wives. Polyandry is a marriage between a woman and multiple husbands. A common expectation for African kings in African societies is for African kings to symbolically unify his kingdom and the society through partaking in polygamous marriages with wives from a broad range of clans within the society. By doing so, the king reduces the chance of dissident and rival forces developing and rising against him.
